Cassie's Comeback

"I'm just a laid-back person." This is how Cassie explains the painful six-plus-year delay between her self-titled debut album and soon-to-be-released sophomore LP. "Maybe laid-back to a fault." Furthermore, she doesn't feel all that bad about it. Throw this in her face: that Rihanna— 24 to Cassie's 26—has already released six studio albums. She'll come back with Sade, who put out just six in her entire twenty-eight-year career. And you know, there's no denying that the two share something else: a slow-burn sexuality (Exhibit A: this photo) that helps you forgive just about anything. "It's been too long, I know, but I got to start over and over again," Cassie says. "It would be awesome to stay popular, but if I was only an underground artist, I would be okay with that." Unlikely, with mastermind (and rumored boyfriend) Sean Combs guiding her from the RB do-me-baby sound of her debut to the electro-pop and tribal thump of the first single off album two, "King of Hearts." "I feel like I'm a new artist," she says. Whatever you are, we're in.

"I'm just a laid-back person." This is how Cassie explains the painful six-plus-year delay between her self-titled debut album and soon-to-be-released sophomore LP. "Maybe laid-back to a fault." Furthermore, she doesn't feel all that bad about it. Throw this in her face: that Rihanna— 24 to Cassie's 26—has already released six studio albums. She'll come back with Sade, who put out just six in her entire twenty-eight-year career. And you know, there's no denying that the two share something else: a slow-burn sexuality (Exhibit A: this photo) that helps you forgive just about anything. "It's been too long, I know, but I got to start over and over again," Cassie says. "It would be awesome to stay popular, but if I was only an underground artist, I would be okay with that." Unlikely, with mastermind (and rumored boyfriend) Sean Combs guiding her from the RB do-me-baby sound of her debut to the electro-pop and tribal thump of the first single off album two, "King of Hearts." "I feel like I'm a new artist," she says. Whatever you are, we're in.